


Of Hope and Love

by Sira



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sira/pseuds/Sira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack Cottle tries to talk some sense into the admiral</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Hope and Love

**Author's Note:**

> All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

When Jack Cottle entered life station to release the president for the day, he found her and the admiral like he always did. Bill Adama sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs, reading to her, with his deep baritone dancing over the words. Laura Roslin laid on her back with her eyes closed. Jack could see that she was listening intently and a small, sad smile played around her lips.

As happy as Jack was to see her smiling at all, hell under this circumstances each and any smile was welcome, he knew that this was not the real deal. And whose fault was that? The admiral’s, because he couldn’t get his ass into gear. Wouldn’t he like to see a full grown smile on her face again? One of those that lit up her whole face and made the heads of the men around her spin?

It had been several weeks of the same routine now and Jack had enough. If they didn’t manage on their own he would have to intervene. He sighed. Somehow he couldn’t remember signing a contract as the fleet’s therapist. He coughed quietly to alert the love birds to his presence.

Adama stopped reading at once, smiled at Roslin and clasped the book shut. Jack went over to the president, relieving her of the IV. "So, young lady. You know how to behave. Up and out with you and don’t forget to get some rest." The president nodded absent mindedly, her eyes resting on the admiral. Jack suppressed another sigh; as if this woman would ever listen to anything he said.

He watched Adama helping Roslin getting up. A small gesture but conveying so much. No one else was allowed to see her that vulnerable. When she stood, the admiral offered her his arm and they were about to leave when Jack called out.

"Admiral, I’d like a word with you."

They both turned to him, wearing twin expressions of worry on their faces. .

"It’s got nothing to do with this," Jack said gruffly gesturing to he now empty bed and the medical supply lying around.

Adama gave a curt nod before turning to Roslin. "I’ll see you later then. Could you take the book with you, please?"

"Of course." After a last look at the both of them she was gone.

"So, what is it, Doctor?"

Wasn’t that typical? Bill Adama wasn’t one to mince words but neither was Jack.

"Not in here."

He led the admiral to his office, shutting the door behind him.

"Would you like a drink?"

 

When Adama nodded, Jack poured them both a glass of chief’s latest creation. It tasted like hell and made ones insides churn but it warmed quite nicely once the body realized that this stuff wasn’t about to kill it. He lit up a cigarette and sat down, motioning to Adama to do the same. When Adama complied, Jack just watched him for a moment. He was a honorable man, a stoic bastard, not quite unlike himself. It wouldn’t help him now though. Jack didn’t like what he had to do but someone had to do it.

"Bill, this has got to stop."

Another man would have looked puzzled but not Bill Adama. There wasn’t a visible reaction to Jack’s words.

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell me, what do you think it needs for someone to want to hope?"

"I think I don’t quite understand."

"And I think you do. You told the president not to give up hope, to fight the cancer as hard as she can, didn’t you?"

Adama’s eyes narrowed. "Yes, I did but frankly, that’s none of your business."

"As her doctor, it is."

"Didn’t you say this has nothing to do with her treatment?"

"It doesn’t, at least not directly. But to come back to the topic at hand, why should the president feel any hope? What should she hope for?"

Jack took a sip of his drink, not reacting to the glare, a now stony faced admiral was throwing him.

"I really think ..."

" ... that’s none of my business. Yes, we just covered that one. But do you think I would go through all of the trouble here to just pry into other people's lifes? I’ve got a million better things to do."

"Then why don’t you attend to them. Don’t let me stop you."

Jack smiled a self mocking smile, rolling his eyes at Adama. "Because I care for the young lady. Only the gods know why though; obnoxious and difficult as she is."

A small smile tugged at the corner’s of Adama’s mouth.

"Jack, why am I really here?"

"Because you don’t seem able to see the light."

"Pardon me?"

"Look, Bill. You want Laura to not lose hope, to be strong, but tell me what's in for her? For Laura Roslin, not the president. People need a reason to hope."

Adama was silent for a while. He took a sip of his drink, not batting an eyelid as he swallowed the acid liquor. "I think she should hope to see us finding Earth. She should hope to build a new life there, along with everyone else."

Jack shook his head. "I thought you’d say that. Look, you and I know that she’d sacrifice herself for the people any day. This among other things is what’s mainly keeps her going on. But that’s not enough. Some shady hope for a future for herself isn’t enough to battle cancer again. You should never forget that she almost died once, and that it was more than just a close thing. She suffered unbearable pain without complaining about it even once. She might not talk about it but she went through hell and back. And although she decided for 'real' treatment this time it isn’t any guarantee for success. She still might die. And don’t forget what the treatment is doing to her mind and body."

Adama hadn’t looked at him once for the last minute, and now he took up his glass again, downing its content with one big gulp.

"Do you think I don’t know what she’s going through. I was around the first time, remember? I might not know the pain she is feeling but I saw her withering in front of our eyes."

Jack smile was sadly. "Yeah, I know. So why don’t you do something to help her a bit more this time. I mean, what you’ve done so far, what you're still doing, is considerate and more than most men would ever do but this won’t keep her alive for any length of time."

"Could you finally come to the point, Jack." Adama’s voice was thick with emotion.

"Sure I can. Tell me, is she sleeping in your rack while you camp on your couch?"

"Yes, but what the..."

"You share your meals and most of your free time, don’t you? Free time, by now, is time together, isn’t it?"

"Jack,..."

"So tell me, Bill Adama; when was the last time you embraced her, kissed her, or held her warm at night?"

Adama’s head snapped up. It was like a curtain fell in front of his face, his expression almost unreadable with just a trace of intense anger directed at Jack in his eyes.

"That’s..."

"... still none of my business. Yeah. But let me answer my own question. There hasn’t been a last time for any of this because there hasn’t been a first, am I right?"

Adama got up in one swift moment, turning his back to Jack, obviously intent to leave the office as fast as his feet would carry him.

"Don’t go. You really might want to hear what I have to say."

"Really?"

"Yes. And you can sit down again. I was never fond of talking to people’s backs."

For a moment he wasn’t sure that Adam would comply, but finally he turned again and sat back down.

"Bill, I know you don’t want to frak up this relationship. I know that you think about your failed marriage with Carolanne and about all of the complications that a relationship with the president of the Twelve Colonies would entail. But let’s face it; first and foremost Laura Roslin is a woman. A woman that needs human warmth just like everyone else and even more so now because of her illness. From her point of view right now there’s nothing to find on Earth. Nothing for herself anyway. Come on, should she hope for a ‘real’ relationship between the two of you? After New Caprica? For more than a year she was just a mere teacher and your positions weren’t a reason to keep you apart any longer. Did you make a move though? No! You might have had your reasons, good reasons at that, but fact is you hid up here. I was down there with everyone else and let me tell you that Laura was looking up the sky, waiting for something... waiting for you, more than once."

"Jack..."

"No, Bill. Don’t you know that all she needs right now is the full extent of your love. I’m not here to judge you but to make you see. Don’t you know that she would feel really cared for held in a gentle embrace, or that a kiss might take her mind of things for once? Don’t you know that a warm body next to hers at night would help her keep the chill at bay and that it might make her feel safe. Safe and loved? Laura Roslin is a fighter but even she has to know that there is something real waiting for her at the end of the road."

Jack put out the small stub of his cigarette and lit up a new one before he looked at Adama. He didn’t know what kind of reaction he had expected to his outburst but clearly not the wry grin on the man’s face.

"You know, Jack. For such a bloody pain in the ass you can become quite poetic."

Jack huffed. "If you tell anyone I will think of some special treatment for you next time you’ll find yourself in here."

Adama got up for good this time. "Thanks for the talk."

Jack remained seated. "You’re welcome. Tell me one last thing though. You really do love her, don’t you?"

Adama just looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Do you really have to ask?" With that he left.

Jack watched him go, shaking his head slowly. The thing was, he really didn’t have to ask.

It was a few days later when Jack approached the curtain hiding the president and the admiral from sight for the next time. He was deeply in thought, still contemplating the treatment of his last patient when he stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of a woman giggling. Interesting. It seemed his talk to Bill Adama hadn’t been completely in vain. Not quite sure if he should feel annoyed or amused by such merriment in such a bleak environment he drew back the curtain.

The president was lying on her back, her eyes twinkling and her mouth twisting from trying to hold in more laughter. The admiral in turn was holding one of her hands, sporting one of the most love struck expressions Jack had ever seen. Disgusting. Not that anyone else would have been able to read anything unusual into Bill Adama’s expression but Jack knew this man for way too long.

 

Jack started to free the president from the IV, seeing the usual book lying abandoned on a nightstand. When he looked at his patient and her paramour again, the admiral finally thought of releasing the president’s hand and both of them schooled their expressions into professional ones. Yeah, of course. As if he hadn’t noticed. After all he was just the stupid doctor.

They were silent while Jack was working, the only interruption now and then a choked giggle. So the rumors of the president’s giggle fit right before a debate seemed to be true. He wouldn’t have pegged her for the giggling type. Truth to be told, he had never pegged her for a woman going for a man like the admiral either. If he was just a little bit younger and things maybe a little bit different ...

"Are we finished for the day?"

The president’s voice brought him back to the here and then. Obviously he had been staring into space for too long.

"Sure. Just remember to not stress yourself more than necessary," he said with a stern look at her and the admiral. The president looked like she was about to start giggling again any moment and she took the admiral by his arm, practically dragging him out of life station. They hadn’t quite left, when he heard loud laughter erupting from the president’s small frame.

Jack smiled. That was sound he could get used to. He turned, noticing that they had forgotten the book on the nightstand. He would bring it to the admiral’s quarters later, much later, or maybe he should wait until the president came in for her next treatment.

He was about to leave when his gaze fell onto the bed. It was rumpled. Rumpled as if someone had shifted on it a great deal. Most probably while the floor was shaking from some earthquake that was.

But surely they wouldn’t have...

Not here!

Not in her condition, with the IV and the nausea and all.

They couldn’t have...

Could they?

He grasped for a cigarette, taking a drag before realizing that he should probably light it up first.


End file.
